It is not necessary to pump and bottle feed or to give formula to determine whether baby is getting enough calories. There is a specialized scale (often available for rent from your lactation consultant or hospital) that can be used for pre- and post-feed weights to determine whether baby is taking in enough milk. There is a special procedure that is used for getting these weights – make sure the person doing the weighing is familiar with it.

Learn baby massage — this has been proven to improve digestion and weight gain.

Carry baby throughout the day in a baby carrier; get as much skin to skin contact as you can. Both of these things have been shown to improve weight gain.

Nurse often – at least every 2 hours during the day and at least once at night. Frequent nursing increases baby’s milk intake.

Make sure you’re allowing your baby to completely finish one side before you offer the other by waiting upon her cues that she is finished; i.e. pulling off herself and looking satisfied, going to sleep, changing from an active suck/swallow to more of a pacifier suck, etc. Always OFFER the second side, but don’t worry if she doesn’t seem to need it. It’s much more important that she be allowed to completely finish one side than that she nurse both sides. By doing so she will be assured of reaching enough of the richer, more caloric hindmilk that helps her to go longer between feedings.

Pump or hand express for a couple of minutes before nursing. This will remove some of the foremilk so that your baby receives more of the richer, higher calorie hindmilk.

If supplements are medically indicated, breastmilk is preferred over formula as a supplement (exceptions to this are rare), and the average fat/calorie content of mom’s milk is higher than that of formula. Mom can pump for 5-10 minutes after nursing (don’t interrupt or shorten the nursing session to do this), and offer this higher-fat hindmilk to baby as needed. This is also an option for moms who normally offer expressed milk when they are separated from baby.

More

Weight gain from Children’s Hospitals and Clinics Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN. Some children who are eating solids and have trouble eating enough to gain weight may need extra calories. Here are some easy ways to add calories to foods.